Saving You (Rewrite)

Chapter One ~ Rekindle

My hands shook uncontrollably as I sweat up a storm, vigorously trying to rid myself of the fever that seemed to overtake my body. The usually well lit room was dark, no rare sunshine or even the omnipresent gray, stormy clouds glared in through the small windows in the concrete. Sharp breaths came in and out of my lungs as if I had just run a marathon, and for a moment, I wished that was the reason. My father lay next to me, sleeping peacefully. Lucky man. I hadn’t slept a wink since I had found out. My world held nothing without her and now that I couldn’t leave this confinement of a room, I had no way to search for her. The police said she ran and was hiding somewhere, but I knew they thought she was dead. I overheard them talking with my mother and father a few evenings ago.

No one believed that she was able to have survived the coldest night in Washington. No one believed that she was alive, however that meant that she stayed safe. But I did, I could feel it.

I took in a shaky breath, shuddering from being so cold despite my rise in temperature. A couple months ago my father, Carlisle, became ill, very strange for him, as I had never witnessed him becoming sick once, but he had, and he fell heavily to the illness. My mother, Esme, had fallen into hysterics, unable to function properly. She never left my fathers side, and though I wanted to join her, she was adamant about me not coming near him.

“I can’t stand if you’re sick too Edward.” she cried the evening Dad was admitted to the hospital. We stood in the waiting room, trying to find out anything from the doctors, but to no avail. Later they told us he was found to have a strong disease called a Spanish influenza, one that seemed to have regenerated and evolved from when it was last seen some hundred years ago. The doctor called it rare, but told us there were a few cases going around the United States currently. The antivirus was at the moment being made, but they didn’t have strong leads as to how to make it.

I cried for my father as I stood listening to the doctors explain everything to my mother and I, hoping that I wouldn’t lose him.

I had just turned 12 years old on June 20th, going into my sixth grade year with a nervous demeanor, but I had something to look forward to. I was excited to be finally be out of elementary school and to meet new people. My best friend since diapers was even more excited. She couldn’t wait to find a new crowd of people who would accept her, but she and I both knew that neither of us would stray far, if at all from each other. Bella had just turned 12 on September 13th, about a month after school had started. Our year wasn’t too different socially from elementary school besides the hormones that seemed to overtake the majority of the girls. Everyone started to change, wearing makeup and tighter clothes to accent their new curves, squealing and flirting...it made me sick to watch it all and I wasn’t exactly sure how the boys that got the attention could stand it.

Bella didn’t change though, she was still stick thin, little to no curves and as quiet as always. I think the both of us expected this year to be different in a better way, but really it got worse, especially for Bella. The “popular” girls taunted her and teased her and as much as I tried to stop it or intervene, I couldn’t stop everything. I wanted to cry for her sometimes, just because she was so sensitive and loving that everything those girls said to her, she took to the heart. So I did the only thing I could do for her; comfort her.

We had always been extremely close to one another, having grown up together and shared experiences that made wonderful inside jokes. Our parents were best friends, clinging to each other to survive the gossiping town and egoistic people, but for some reason no one ever thought to move, because it was this town of Forks, Washington that held the spark of that brought everyone that much closer to one another.

Charlie and Renee had become my second parents, as I knew Carlisle and Esme were to Bella. So when Dad fell ill and Mom never left his side, Charlie and Renee took me in. I knew that my parents didn’t mean to hurt me the way they did. They loved each other more than anything in the world and I knew they didn’t mean to cut me out, as they tried to keep me safe, but I couldn’t help how I felt at the time. Angry, upset and so naive. And though I was thrilled to stay with Bella, I was beyond scared for my father, the man that I looked up to for everything in every way.